Bob’s Fishing Gear

Motion, noise and water relocation are the primary causes of fish striking a lure, but smell and taste become important when a fish is close enough to bite.  Some fish have a strong sense of smell, while others do not.  Sharks and catfish have a finely tuned sense of smell, while carp, salmon and trout are still sharp smellers but without the degree of intensity as the top two.  Bass and walleye are in the middle, about a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.  Pike and muskie only register the smell of fish attractant when they have visually seen the lure and are poised to strike it.

Though many believe scented fish attractant is used to draw fish, it is actually very useful for disguising negative smells and tastes that humans leave on our lures and baits-sunscreen, bug spray, fuel, nicotine, and our general human smell. A tasteless, odorless chemical is prevalent in human skin oils that will be present on every piece of fish bait you attach to your Daiwa fishing reels. If a fish smells or tastes something negative and rejects the lure, the fish is gone. Fish attractant can make your bait taste like something that is still alive, fooling the fish into hanging on for a few more seconds.  This gives the angler a better chance of reeling the fish in, particularly the fish attractant scent is carefully chosen.  Experiment with baits and even unusual smells like garlic to see what gets the best results.